The Henson Journals

[13]

Thursday, December 15th, 1927.

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The newspapers give great prominence to last night's debate and division. My own speech is much commented on, generally in a friendly way. The 'Morning Post' says that it was the outstanding feature of the debate, laments my absenteeism from the field of secular politics, & likens me to my Lord Birkenhead! The 'Westminster Gazette' gives me high praise, & says that the peroration of my speech was the apex of the debate. The Daily Express even gives a picturesque description of my person, and my delivery! Much admiration is bestowed, (and I think deservedly) on Lang's concluding speech, which the 'Yorkshire Post', holds to be the best thing I the debate. The Times gives a generous summary of my speech, & indicates its importance. On the whole, the reports are intelligible, & less inaccurate than might have been expected. Surprise at the largeness of the majority is expressed in all the papers, and considerable importance is attributed to the effect of the speeches. It is assumed, perhaps rashly, that the decisive vote in the Lords will affect the voting in the Commons.

[14]

I left London by the corridor express. The train was labelled 'The Queen of Scots'. This fashion of distinguishing the expresses by names is a very recent development. I beguiled the journey by reading Dick Shepperd's "The Impatience of a Parson". I read carefully in order to make sure that I was not missing the author's meaning: but it is very poor stuff indeed. He insists on its being judged as the deliberate product of thought an labour, not the hasty output of a busy man. It reads like a summary of perorations. The vagueness of the rhetorical language makes it almost impossible to give any definite meaning to it, and the series of suggested Resolutions for the next Lambeth Conference give the reader a very unfavourable estimate of the writer's intelligence.

I motored to Whitworth, and instituted to the Vicarage. The Rev. Thomas Sydney Groser, who, for the last 4 years, has been assistant curate of S. John's, Sunderland. The weather was most unpropitious, but none the less the little church was fairly filled.